


SF 

808 



NEW JERSEY. COMMISSION TO IN- 
VESTIGATE TUBERCULOSIS IN CATT: 
Report mads to State Board 
of Agriculture, January 16,1894 




STATE OF NEW JERSEY. 



,•,'.' 



REPORT OF COMMISSION 



TO 



INVESTIGATE THE EXISTENCE 



OF 



Tuberculosis in Cattle. 



MADE TO STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE, 
JANUARY 16th, 1895, 



Acting under Law passed May 2 2d, 1894. 




TRENTON, N. J. : 

The John L. Murphy Publishing Co., Printers. 

1895. 



JSXVlLtNttm^ 



LIBRARY 

OP THE 

U. S. Department of Agriculture. 

Class --?T_\_y._Z)_ 



STATE OE NEW JERSEY. 



REPORT OF COMMISSION 



TO 



INVESTIGATE THE EXISTENCE 



OF 



Tuberculosis in Cattle. 



MADE TO STATE BOARD OP AGRICULTURE, 
JANUARY 16th, 1895, 



Acting under Law passed May 22d, 7894. 




TRENTON, N. J. : 

The John L, Murphy Publishing Co., Printers, 

1893. 



MOV 20 m 



4> 






REPORT OF THE COMMISSION TO INVESTIGATE THE 

EXISTENCE OF TUBERCULOSIS, ACTING UNDER 

LAW PASSED MAY 22, 1894. 



First. As to the appointment of the Commission. 

The President of the State Board, Hon. Edward Burrough, 
appointed as members of the Commission Messrs. Isaac W. Nichol- 
son, Camden county; Chas. Howell Cook, Somerset; H. V. M. 
Dennis, Monmouth; Dr. Jos. B. Ward, Essex, and Dr. Wm. C. 
Parry, Burlington, with the President and Secretary of the State 
Board, who are made members of the Commission by the act. 

The Commission were called together in the office of the State Board 
of Agriculture, July 24th, and organized by electing Edward Bur- 
rough, President ; Chas. Howell Cook, Vice President and Treas- 
urer ; Franklin Dye, Secretary. 

Second. The Commission first proceeded to outline a course of 
action under the law within the limitations prescribed therein. 

Under the rules adopted they decided to procure all available 
information on the question of tuberculosis in animals and results of 
the tests made to discover its existence, by the use of Koch's lymph, 
up to the present time. The Secretary was directed to open corre- 
spondence with other similar Boards and Commissions, with Experi- 
ment Stations and the United States Bureau of Animal Industry at 
Washington, to secure all available reliable literature bearing on the 
question. Some extracts from this literature will be published with 
this report. 

For the Scientific work of the Commission, the State Biologist, 
Prof. Julius Nelson, of the State Agricultural College, was employed, 
and his report of analyses made, cattle examined, &c, will accompany 
this report. 

The Commission also decided to employ competent veterinarians in 
different parts of the State, as occasion might require, to make physi- 



cal examinations and assist in the autopsies of cattle condemned to be 
slaughtered. 

The Commission acknowledge the efficient aid of the State Dairy 
Commissioner in co-operating with them in the work undertaken. A 
number of herds were brought to the attention of the Commission, 
at their request, by the State Dairy Commissioner, as follows : 

1. Where sanitary and feeding conditions are positively bad. 

2. Where sanitary and feeding conditions are good, but where close 
inbreeding has been practiced on pure-bred animals. 

3. Natives where natural conditions are observed both in reference 
to feeding and shelter. 

A number have since been added by the Commissioner and by the 
State Board of Health, and some requests have come from farmers 
and dairymen to have their herds examined and tested. Not all of 
these applications have as yet received attention. Below we cite a 
number of sample cases examined by the Commission and showing 
the conditions which were found to exist. 

The first herd subjected to the lymph test was that of the State 
Hospital at Trenton, consisting of forty-eight cows and one bull. 
Here the Commission secured the consent of the Managers of the 
State Hospitals before doing anything. As this is a State institution, 
this course was thought to be the be3t for obvious reasons. The herd 
was chosen as a starting point, first, because it belonged to the State ; 
second, because from all appearances it was a typically well-kept 
herd. The management throughout was exceptionally good. The 
buildings, according to recent demands, were all that could be desired, 
the entire business being under the efficient superintendence of Col. 
W. H. Earley. The herd was separated into three divisions for injec- 
tion, so as not to interfere with the milk-supply any more than it was 
possible to avoid. Of the total number (forty-nine) injected, twenty- 
eight responded to the test by giving the required rise of temperature. 
Of this number twenty- seven have been slaughtered. Of those 
slaughtered all but one gave clear evidence of tuberculous trouble, 
some of them in an aggravated form, others in a much less advanced 
stage. Of this herd it should be said it was made up of grades of 
most of the prevailing breeds, and a number of them over six years 
old, many of which had been purchased from others. The next 
herd examined, and believed to be tuberculous, was near Plainfield. 



The conditions surrounding this herd were not of the best. It con- 
sisted of nineteen cows and one bull, the latter having actinomycosis 
(or lump jaw) in an advanced stage. The whole herd was injected. 
There were two responses. The bull and the balance of the herd 
gave no response. Of those not responding one was slaughtered on 
suspicion of being diseased, and the autopsy proved the judgment of 
the veterinarians to be correct. The condition of all those slaugh- 
tered in this herd was such as to justify the course pursued. Again, 
in Morris county, six cows, greatly reduced in flesh owing to scanty 
feeding, were believed by the local veterinarian to be tuberculous, as 
one of the herd had died from the disease in the early spring. The 
cows were injected, and gave no reaction suggestive of tuberculosis- 
But they were slaughtered for the purpose of investigation. The 
autop3ies to the unaided eye gave no evidence of the disease. 

Another herd of ten, chiefly Jerseys, near Linwood, was injected 
at the request of the owner. These cows were fairly well cared for 
and fed. Not one gave a suspicious response to the lymph test. 

Another herd of twenty-nine cows, near Lebanon, Hunterdon 
county, was examined both at the request of the owner and of the 
Dairy Commissioner. The investigations in this herd are not yet 
completed. 

Again, by request of the State Board of Health, ten cows in 
Montclair were examined, the Montclair Board of Health fearing 
that a child in the vicinity had contracted " tubercular meningitis " 
from the use of the milk supplied by this dairy. The herd was 
injected and one case only gave suspicious reaction. It was slaugh- 
tered and the autopsy showed unmistakable evidence of tuberculosis. 

Another herd of twelve cows, near Stoutsburg, was examined and 
injected at the request of the owner. Work in this herd is not com- 
pleted at this date. 

A herd of about forty cows, near Morristown, was tested early last 
spring by the owner, and some twenty-seven were condemned and 
slaughtered, all of which were tuberculous in some degree. The 
owner has since applied to this Commission to have his herd, num- 
bering twenty-eight, re-tested. This was recently done and three 
only gave the required reaction and they were slaughtered and all 
were found to be tuberculous. The owner claims he had no trouble 
from tuberculosis until it was introduced by purchased cows. 



MILK AS FOOD. 

We realize that milk is a complete human food, and nature's most 
perfect natural liquid food, and we therefore believe every reasonable 
precaution should be taken in reference to its production, handling 
and sale, so that no point shall be left unguarded that may jeopardize 
its purity and healthfulness. To this end not only should the cow 
be healthy, but she should be kept in healthful conditions, and those 
who handle the milk should be scrupulously clean and careful. So 
all milk receptacles and utensils should be frequently and thoroughly 
cleansed. No milk, either by producer or consumer, should be left 
exposed in an atmosphere vitiated by any contagious disease, as it is 
a well-known fact that typhoid, scarlet fever and diphtheria have 
been communicated by the absorbent qualities of the milk. 



THE COMMISSION. 

It is the judgment of the Commission that this method of super- 
vision should be continued on the same careful and conservative lines 
as now begun, obtaining all possible information and making careful, 
legitimate experiments in order to protect our State from assaults of 
radical measures affecting our dairies and dairy products. 



POWERS INCREASED. 

In this connection we suggest that the powers for dairy inspection 
be largely increased, so that stated physical examinations of all herds 
supplying our towns and cities with milk shall be made by competent 
veterinarians, and all cattle found to be diseased shall be slaughtered, 
particularly such as are found to have diseased udders. Such periodi- 
cal investigations should also cover the sanitary arrangements of 
stables, character of food and other matters of importance connected 
with the healthfulness of both the cows and their products. On this 
point the late Dr. Ezra M. Hunt said in his report to this Board, 
page 236, 1893-94 : " In regard to milk there is also much differ- 
ence of opinion as to the risk unless the udder of the cow has become 
affected. There is, however, a growing belief that no cow affected 



with tuberculosis in any form should be in a dairy, and that people 
should, by proper inspection, be assured of safety from any risk in 
the use of milk." 

CERTIFICATES OF EXAMINATION. 

In connection with such examination, a certificate, stating that 
such herd has been subjected to the required legal examination, 
should be furnished the owner, both for his protection and for the 
satisfaction of the consumers of milk. 

This inspection is also of the greatest importance from the pro- 
ducers' standpoint. It must be remembered that the existence of the 
disease in a member of the herd may, it is claimed, sooner or later 
inoculate the whole number. The immediate removal of such animals, 
while a temporary loss, will surely result in a gain in the end, 
compensation being made, as now, by the State. 

As to the existence of the tubercle bacilli in milk in every case of 
tuberculous cows, the investigations on this point by scientists are not 
conclusive, but enough is demonstrated to show there is danger from 
using milk of cows having diseased udders. That there are numerous 
other sources, however, by which this disease may be communicated 
to the human family is admitted by all who have carefully investi- 
gated the general question, and the part such possible contributing 
agents may play as to the origin of any given case of human tuber- 
culosis should be most carefully investigated, especially when there is 
reasonable ground for suspicion. The cow should not be charged 
with the sins of others — enough that she be condemned for her own. 
Another matter which should not be overlooked is the probable com- 
munication of the disease to the bovine from the human. We believe 
no consumptive person, with the disease advanced, should have charge 
of dairy cows or take part in the handling of milk that is for others' 
use. If, as asserted by science, this death-dealing germ is expecto- 
rated by persons as well as animals, there is cause for more care 
against possible spread of the disease, which Dr. D. E. Salmon says 
is " the most widespread and destructive plague that affects man or 
domesticated animals." 



^ 



SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATIONS. 

The scientific, microscopic and biological investigations of animals 
slaughtered by this Commission are being made, as previously stated, 
by Prof. Julius Nelson, the Biologist of our State Experiment 
Station. Such investigations are necessarily slow and tedious. When 
these are completed they will be published with this report. Whether 
they will add anything new to the investigations already made by 
him and so many others on the scientific side of this important 
question, remains to be seen. Certain it is that scientists are not yet 
agreed on all the questions connected with this whole subject, but 
further research will no doubt in time demonstrate more clearly those 
points which are now in debate. 

(Signed) D. D. Denise, President, Freehold P. O. 

Chas. Howell Cook, Vice President, Trenton P. (X 
Franklin Dye, Secretary, Trenton P. O. 
William C. Parry, M.D., Hainesport P. O. 
H. Y. M. Dennis, Freehold P. O. 
Isaac W. Nicholson, Camden P. O. 
Joseph B. Ward, M.D., Lyons Farms P. O. 

Commission. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



002 850 285 



